A Claim of Innocence
by Everlasting Hello
Summary: It should have been an easy case. They already had a suspect who had a possible motive, no alibi, and was seen leaving the crime scene. The only problem was that Luka didn't think he did it.


AN - Help, I can't stop writing new fanfiction! It is eating up my life!

Seriously, I keep getting new story ideas, and every time I get a new idea it will drive me insane until I finally write it. This _cannot_ be healthy.

Oh, and here's some warnings for this story -

1. There is **extremely mild** swearing in here. It's nothing serious, but I just want you to be aware beforehand so that I hopefully won't get any complaints (most people don't seem to mind a little language anyways, I'm just warning the ones that do).

2. If you like Mikuo Hatsune, then I am very, very sorry.

* * *

The slight buzzing sound coming from the light bulb was getting on Len's last nerve. The tired blond leaned back in his chair and stared at the noisy object as if his irritation would make it be quiet. He let out a low sigh as he checked the time on his watch.

10:26 AM. He fought the urge to yawn as his brain clumsily did the mental math. He had been woken up somewhere around 11:30 PM the previous night and dragged to the police station for "questioning". There he had been interrogated for five hours straight by a very belligerent woman, after which he had been left alone for a while. Then the interrogation had resumed for another five hours.

He was completely exhausted from lack of sleep and from trying to defend himself from the woman's accusations, and the hard chair he was sitting on was hurting his back. Len looked around the room slowly as he weighed up his options. He might be able to think a little clearer if he caught some sleep on the floor, seeing as he had nowhere else to go. Of course, him doing that might annoy that lady...

"Oh, she can just go die," he muttered under his breath as he got out of his chair. Unfortunately for him, he had barely dozed off before he was jerked back awake by someone kicking him lightly in the side.

"Hey, get up. This is a police station, not a freaking hotel." The aforementioned belligerent woman was standing over him, a cup of coffee in one hand and a folder in the other. Len lifted his head and gave her an angry glare, but her wide brown eyes just glared right back. "Get up before I pour this coffee on you!"

"Don't you dare do that, Meiko."

The brunette woman spun around and stamped her foot angrily. "Stop undermining me, Luka!"

Len pushed himself up to a sitting position and saw the pink-haired woman standing near the door. She had been in the room during all of the earlier interrogation, but had said almost nothing. He had wondered at first if they were going to do a good cop/bad cop thing, but if so, they had yet to really start the good cop side. Meiko turned back to him and gave him another light kick.

"Get off the floor already!"

Len finally got up, muttering angrily under his breath as he did so. He was forced to return to his hard chair, then Meiko sat down in the chair across the table from him. Luka merely leaned back against the wall beside the door. The tall woman crossed her arms and watched them with a guarded expression on her face, making Len feel like a mouse being hunted by a cat.

It wasn't a comforting mental image, but Meiko did not give him long to think about it. The brunette woman slammed her coffee mug and folder down on the table, and Len reluctantly returned his attention to her. He watched as she set her elbows on the table, interlaced her fingers, and rested her chin on top of them. From past experience, Len knew she wouldn't maintain that position for long. The brunette woman was rather animated whenever she was angered, and she seemed to have a hair-trigger temper.

"So, Len, how about we go over what happened that night?" she asked in a smooth voice.

"We already went over it," Len said.

"Well then, let's go over it again."

"We already did that as well, bitch."

Meiko twitched, Luka blinked, and Len lowered his head slightly in shame. He had been raised to not speak like that to women, but he was so tired of this lady that he couldn't stop himself from being rude. Meiko closed her eyes for a few seconds, and when she opened them again Len could tell that she had thought of something.

"It's funny. Most people we talk to around here say that you're a sweet kid, but nothing you've done in here has been sweet. Maybe we're seeing the real Len Kagamine?"

"Everybody gets a little irritable when they're tired," Len replied sullenly. Meiko could tell that he regretted what he had said, so now seemed to be a good time to go over the case again.

"Do you usually get so impulsive when you're irritated by something?" she asked. Len blinked, then he looked at her and frowned.

"Impulsive...?"

"You know, doing things you will ultimately end up regretting?"

Len cocked his head slightly to the side. Was she seriously trying that angle again?

"I already told you everything I know. I'm not hiding anything, and I'm not the one that killed him."

Meiko pursed her lips as a look of mild annoyance filled her face. She opened the folder and looked down at the papers inside. Len rolled his eyes; surely Meiko could recite the facts of the case by now.

"Twenty-one times..." she said slowly. She looked up and caught Len's gaze with her wide eyes. "It takes a lot of anger to stab someone twenty-one times," she said in a matter-of-fact way.

"So?"

Meiko could see that this was falling into the same pattern as the previous interrogation sessions. She decided to jump to a new tack and work from there.

"Tell me about your school," the brunette woman said as she closed the folder and pushed it away. Len raised an eyebrow as he looked at her warily.

"I don't see how that will help your investigation," he said. Meiko's eyes sparked with annoyance.

"Tell me," she said firmly. Len didn't feel like setting the woman off, so he decided to go along with it.

"There aren't really that many people in my school. Maybe three hundred in all the grades combined." Meiko nodded.

"I noticed that this village is rather small, at least when compared to most places nowadays. The total population is maybe, what, nine hundred people? A thousand at most?" Len didn't really see how discussing the population of his hometown was going to help anything. Meiko turned to Luka and grinned. "I like how they still call it Mujitsu Village. It gives the place a really cozy feel."

Len's eyes narrowed at her. He didn't have much experience with people from other places, so he was never sure when they were serious and when they were making fun of something. The brunette woman turned back to Len and caught the look he was giving her. She decided to pretend like she hadn't noticed.

"So you must be pretty familiar with all your classmates, huh?" she asked. Len shook his head.

"I'm friends with some of them, but there are still people who refuse to talk to others."

"Do you ever talk to people in different grades?" Len knew where this was going, but he went with it anyways.

"Sometimes," he said. Meiko leaned forward and set her chin in the palms of her hands.

"Did you ever talk to Mikuo Hatsune?" There was a long pause between the two.

"...Rarely." Meiko smiled.

"Why is that? He was just a grade above you, after all." Len looked away from her wide eyes and shrugged.

"I just never really liked him, that's all." Meiko watched his every movement with calculating eyes.

"So what did you think when he started dating your twin sister?"

Len didn't answer. Meiko could tell by the way he had pressed his lips together that he had no intention of replying to the question.

"Why don't we talk about your sister, then?"

"What about her?" Len finally looked back at her, his eyes tinged with confusion.

"You two are close, aren't you?"

"Of course we are," Len said as he shrugged lightly.

"And I'm assuming you protect her the way a brother is supposed to protect his sister."

"Yeah... I mean, I try to." Meiko raised an eyebrow.

"You only _try_ to?"

"It's hard to protect Rin because she's always rushing into risky stuff," Len explained. "It's impossible for me to always be there for her."

"Ah. So, did you consider her relationship with Mikuo to be something risky she was rushing into?" She smirked when she saw the anger flare in Len's dark green eyes. "Is murder something you would do to protect Rin?" Len suddenly stood up, knocking his chair over backwards in the process.

"I already told you, I didn't kill Mikuo!" he yelled. Meiko stood up as well and slammed her hands on the table, which made her folder jump.

"Sit down, Kagamine!"

"Go to hell!"

Luka let out a resigned sigh as the calm order of the interrogation dissolved into the chaos of the earlier sessions. To tell the truth, she was impressed that Meiko had gotten that far with the blond before he blew up on her. The pink-haired woman trained her pale eyes on the floor and bit her thumbnail as she thought carefully.

When they had first brought him in, Len had seemed to be a genuinely good kid, albeit a little grumpy from being woken up in the middle of the night. She had watched him get worn down to the point of having a temper that was almost as bad as Meiko's, and she couldn't help but wonder if he was just tired, or if this really was the real Len. There was no way the sleepy-eyed boy they had first brought in would have ever been considered a suspect, if it wasn't for the witness who had reported seeing him leaving the crime scene.

Luka tapped the end of her finger against her chin as she thought, easily ignoring the steadily increasing volume of the argument between Len and Meiko. Finally, their arguing got to be too much for the pink-haired woman.

"Meiko." Both the brunette and the blond suddenly stopped, surprised that Luka had spoken. "I think we should leave," Luka said calmly.

Meiko frowned and stomped her foot childishly, but then she turned and grabbed her things. After the brunette woman had left the room, Luka turned to Len and bowed slightly.

"I'm sorry for all the discomfort we have caused you. If you want, I can have a pillow and some blankets brought in so that you can catch up on your sleep." Len blinked hard, obviously very surprised by the difference between Luka and her brunette coworker.

"No thanks, I'll be fine," he said warily. Luka nodded, then she turned and left the room as well. After the door closed behind the pink-haired woman, Len slowly sunk down to the floor and let out a tired sigh. All he wanted was to go home already. The blond twitched when he once again noticed the godawful buzz the light bulb was making.

* * *

"Luka, why did you do that?" The pink-haired woman pursed her lips as she stirred sugar into her coffee.

"Do what?"

"Make us leave, obviously." Meiko leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms. Luka shrugged as she gently blew on her coffee to cool it a bit.

"I don't think you're going to get anywhere with that boy in his current emotional condition. You need to give him some time to calm down before you talk to him again." Meiko rolled her eyes.

"Len refuses to even talk about Mikuo anymore. How are we going to get a confession if he won't speak about the victim or his motive?"

"Possible motive," Luka gently corrected as she took a sip of coffee and turned to her coworker. Meiko stared at the pink-haired woman.

"Possible motive? Do you actually think he didn't do it?"

"Possibly." Luka brushed her bangs out of her eyes as she explained, "We only have one witness, and considering the fact that it was nighttime when she saw him, she might have been mistaken." Meiko shook her head firmly.

"She said they were under the street lights when she saw him leaving Mikuo's house, and she recognized him from school. That girl must be right."

"Hmm." Meiko twitched as Luka hummed low in her throat. She knew that meant that Luka didn't agree with her, but the pink-haired woman didn't feel like starting an argument over it. "In either case, I would like to talk to the witness some more. I feel as if there's something to this relationship between the Kagamine girl and the victim that we're missing, and she may be able to give us some more information."

"I don't think it's okay for us to harass that girl," Meiko said as she crossed her arms. Luka looked at her wryly.

"Really? You have no problem harassing the boy."

"That's different. He's a murderer." Luka sighed and gently flicked Meiko on the forehead.

"Try to keep an open mind, okay?" Meiko stuck her tongue out like a child, and Luka couldn't help but giggle at her coworker's antics.

* * *

"I already told you everything, didn't I?" Sitting straight up in her chair with her hands folded neatly in her lap, Miku Hatsune gave off a very different vibe than the worn out Kagamine boy. Not really an important fact, but one that Luka's mind noticed anyway.

Because she was the one who had wanted to bring Miku in for more questioning, she was the one doing the asking this time. Meiko was leaning against the wall, drinking a cup of coffee and quietly looking on. The brunette woman had been awake for about as long as Len, and she was almost as worn out. She was having to drink a ton of coffee to even stay awake.

"If you don't mind, could you go over your statement one more time for us?" Luka asked Miku. The green-haired girl took a deep breath before launching into her story.

"I was walking home from my friend's house when I passed by Mikuo's house. I saw the front door open and someone come out, and when he reached the sidewalk I realized it was Len. He was quite a ways ahead of me on the sidewalk, but when I called to him he stopped and turned around. He smiled and waved at me, but then turned and started walking again. I was hurrying to reach him, but he walked into a dark area where the light from the streetlamps didn't reach, and when I got there and looked around, he was gone." Luka nodded.

"And then when you heard about what had happened to Mikuo..."

"I came here and told you what I saw," Miku finished. She tilted her head slightly. "What's the point of all this?"

"I just wanted to make sure your story stayed consistent. If you had suddenly changed something, we would have had a problem," Luka explained. "But now that that's out of the way, I'd like to ask you about your school." Miku blinked in confusion.

"What does my school have to do with your investigation?" she asked.

"We were hoping to figure out what may have motivated Len to do something like this. Are you friends with him?" Miku looked at the ceiling as she thought.

"Well... not really, I don't think. He mostly stays with his sister and a few others. We've talked a few times, and he's a really sweet guy." Meiko clicked her tongue at the last part, and Luka gave her a look that said Shut it.

"Did you know Mikuo?" the pink-haired woman asked Miku.

"Yeah. We were in the same grade and all, but I didn't really talk to him much, either."

"Hey, quick question." Luka and Miku both turned to look at Meiko. The brunette woman continued, "Are you related to this Mikuo guy or something? You two have very similar names and look alike."

"No, we're not related as far as I know. A lot of people around here look similar to each other; I guess that's just part of living in a small village."

Meiko frowned, and Luka cleared her throat and resolved to get the conversation back on track.

"Can you tell me anything about Mikuo and Rin's relationship?" she asked the green-haired girl.

"Well, I didn't really know much about it. No one really knew they were dating, not until a few days before Mikuo... died." Luka's eyebrows slid down as she shared a look with Meiko. The brunette woman seemed surprised by what Miku had said.

"You mean that in your tiny school, none of the students knew that two of their classmates were in a relationship?" Meiko asked. Miku shook her head.

"I think Len was the only person who knew before we all found out. Mikuo and Rin were trying to keep it a secret from everyone."

"Was there a reason they were doing that?" Luka asked. Miku lowered her head and didn't answer. "...Miku? What is it?"

"Mikuo didn't want anyone to know because he was cheating on Rin with a girl from her grade," Miku said quietly. Luka blinked and looked at Meiko.

"So the victim was dating another girl in addition to Len's sister?" Meiko asked carefully. Miku nodded.

"He had told her to keep quiet like Rin, so neither one of them knew that they were dating the same guy."

"How did they find out?" Luka asked.

"A girl in our grade realized what he was doing and told Rin. She confronted him during lunch, so everyone ended up finding out then."

"Who is the other girl he was dating?" Meiko asked.

"Rui Kagene. She broke up with Mikuo as soon as she found out, the same as Rin." Luka tilted her head slightly as she thought, then she nodded firmly.

"Thank you for talking to us, Miku. You've been very helpful today." The green-haired girl looked up and blinked.

"Does that mean I can go home now?"

"Yes, we're done for now. We'll call you if we need to know anything else." Luka stood and opened the door for Miku. The green-haired girl walked out into the hallway, then suddenly flinched and drew back. Luka noticed the way that Miku was squinting slightly and frowned. "Is everything all right?" she asked. Miku hesitated, then nodded.

"Yeah. It's brighter out here than in that room, so the light surprised me a little." Luka blinked and looked around. Yes, it was a tad bit brighter in the hallway than in the room they had been in, but surely the difference wasn't enough to hurt Miku's eyes. Luka glanced at Miku and saw that the green-haired girl was looking at her and biting her lip.

"What is it?" Luka asked. Miku jumped slightly, then looked down at the floor.

"Where were you born?" she asked. Luka glanced at Meiko and raised an eyebrow, but the brunette woman just shrugged in response.

"I was raised in Tokyo. Why are you asking?" Luka said. Miku suddenly looked up at her, an intense look in her wide eyes.

"Tokyo? That's a big city, right? A lot of people live there?"

"It's a very big city, so millions of people live there," Luka explained.

"So a lot of sins must happen there, right?" Miku asked quickly. Luka was slightly taken aback by the green-haired girl's tone of voice.

"Well, if you're asking about the crime rate, then yes, there is a lot of crime in Tokyo. At least, more than in small villages like this." Miku was quiet for a several moments. When she started talking again, her voice was surprisingly soft.

"I was born in Tokyo, too, but we moved out here when I was little. This is such a small village that the local police weren't even capable of handling a murder investigation and had to bring in two outsiders to help. I thought that out here I would be safe, but if there is sin in even a place as small as this..." Miku's voice trailed off, then she suddenly smiled brightly.

"Well, never mind all that. Good luck with your investigation!"

After the green-haired girl had left, Meiko pulled out one of the chairs and sat down.

"So, Mikuo wasn't just dating Len's sister, he was cheating on her." Luka sighed as she closed the door.

"You think that gives Len more motive, don't you?" she said. Meiko clicked her tongue sharply.

"Well duh! Len said earlier that he tries to protect his sister. Just imagine how mad he must have been when he found out that her boyfriend broke her heart!" Luka nodded tiredly.

"Yes, the fact that Mikuo cheated on Rin makes things look worse for the Kagamine boy. But don't forget that there was another girl he was dating as well." Meiko tilted her head and looked at the ceiling.

"Rui something-or-other? What, do you think she might have had a hand in the murder?"

"She may have nothing to do with the actual crime, but she can help us figure out more of what's going on. I'd like to talk to her if we can."

* * *

"Oh, hello. Who are you?" The front door of the Kagene house was opened by a girl with short black hair and bright yellow eyes.

"Are you Rui Kagene? My name is Luka Megurine, and I believe we spoke over the phone." Luka explained.

"Oh, Miss Megurine! Please, do come in!" Rui stepped back to let Luka and Meiko enter her house. "Would you like something to drink? We have tea," Rui said.

"Do you got any coffee?" Meiko asked.

"No, no coffee. Rei said he doesn't want me drinking that stuff." Meiko made a face, and Luka let out a small sigh.

"Tea will be fine, thank you."

Rui nodded quickly and left for the kitchen. The black-haired girl stopped at the foot of the stairs. Both women jumped when they heard the formerly soft-spoken girl yell up the stairs, "YO, REI! WE GOT COMPANY!"

"It doesn't seem she's too familiar with how to treat guests. She didn't even invite us to sit down before she left," Meiko complained.

"Oh hush. She's obviously trying her best; they may not get visitors very often. I'm sure it's fine for us to sit on the couch," Luka said quietly. After both women had sat down, Meiko leaned back and looked around the room slowly.

"Who do you think Rei is? Her brother, maybe?" Luka was about to reply, but then Rui returned with a tray full of cups of tea. The black-haired girl set her tray on the table and offered tea to Luka and Meiko, then she turned and glared in the direction of the stairs.

"Is there a problem?" Meiko asked. Rui turned to them and smiled.

"No, everything's fine. If you'll please excuse me, I'll be back in just a moment." Rui left, and a minute later they could hear two sets of feet coming back down the stairs.

"I don't see any reason for me to talk to them!" an unfamiliar voice growled.

"It'll be good for you. You need to start being more sociable!" Rui said firmly. She walked back into the living room, this time dragging a boy with her. He had eyes and hair the same color as Rui, so Luka assumed that this must be Rei.

"Miss Megurine and Miss..." Rui trailed off and looked at Meiko curiously.

"Meiko," the brunette woman said. Rui blinked.

"Meiko...?"

"Just Meiko will be fine." Rui seemed to be a bit taken aback, then she shrugged it off.

"Well, I'd like for you to meet my brother, Rei Kagene. Rei, this is Miss Luka Megurine and Miss Meiko." There was a pause, then Rui elbowed her brother sharply.

"Hello, nice to meet you," Rei practically spat at them. It was painfully obvious to both women that Rei had no wish to speak to them, but they both pretended they didn't notice.

"It is very nice to meet you as well," Luka replied calmly. Now that the introductions were over, Rui moved to sit in a chair facing the couch, and Rei sat down in a chair in the corner of the room. Luka watched him go, then returned her attention to the black-haired girl. Rui looked at Luka quizzically.

"Miss Megurine, why are you two here? I know you're looking into that recent murder, but I don't see how we can help your investigation."

"We were just trying to figure out what all had happened at your school recently that concerned the victim. We heard that you were dating him."

Rui's face saddened, but Luka's attention was caught by Rei's reaction. The black-haired boy's head had snapped up when Luka mentioned the relationship, and when his eyes met hers she saw that they were burning with anger. She blinked when she realized that he was reminding her of Len whenever it was mentioned that Mikuo had dated Rin.

"We did date for a while, but I broke up with him a few days before..." Her voice trailed off as if she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, and Luka's eyes softened when she saw the pain on the younger girl's face.

"You broke up with him because he was cheating on you, right?" Rui nodded.

"Yes. I found out what was going on when Rin got into an argument with him during lunch. She dumped him right there, and after lunch I broke up with him as well. Then I went and apologized to Rin for what had happened. I would have never gone out with Mikuo if I had known he was with Rin."

"Were you friends with Rin?" Meiko asked.

"No. We had spoken a few times, but I don't think we were really friends," Rui answered.

"What about you?" Luka said suddenly. Rei looked up and met her gaze.

"Hm?"

"What about you? Were you friends with the Kagamines?" Rei leaned back in his chair and stared at the floor as he thought.

"I never spoke to the girl, but I've talked to Len some. He seems to understand some things better than most people."

"Things like what?" There was another pause as Rei thought, and Luka took a sip of tea as she waited for his answer.

"Things like that I don't have the patience for people who are constantly chattering, and that I will do anything to protect my sister. Those kinds of things."

"So it must have made you mad when you found out that Mikuo was cheating on your sister, right?" Luka asked calmly. Rei didn't answer the question verbally, but his reaction was answer enough. The black-haired boy's eyes filled with cold fury as his entire body went tense. When he finally spoke, his voice was icy and full of pure venom.

"Anybody who treats girls that way is better off dead. We have no room in this village for trash like that."

Luka and Meiko exchanged a look, both of them clearly thinking that they had just witnessed this boy turn from a human to a demon. Meiko suddenly pulled out her phone and opened it.

"Oh. I'm sorry, but something's come up back at the station, so we have to go now." The brunette woman stood up and gestured for Luka to stand as well. Rui seemed a little flustered by their sudden departure.

"Oh, well, it was nice to meet you. If you have any more questions, feel free to call."

"We'll be sure to do that," Luka said as they headed for the door. The pink-haired woman stopped in the doorway to glance back at Rei. He was slumped over in his chair, all the tension in his body gone. His black bangs were hiding his eyes, but Luka still felt a shudder go down her spine when she looked at him.

* * *

"I'm sorry I ended the interview like that, but I could not spend even one more moment in there with that boy," Meiko said. They were on their way back to the police station, and she was driving. Luka shook her head as she looked out the window.

"It's okay, I also wanted to get away from him. He seems to be very vindictive of anyone who harms his sister." Meiko snorted.

"That's a major understatement. He almost seemed to wish he could bring Mikuo back so that he could kill him himself."

"Hmm." This time Luka's humming was a sign that Meiko had given her an idea. The brunette woman glanced over at her coworker.

"No, Luka."

"No what?" Luka asked innocently.

"No, we can't consider that boy as a suspect."

"He has just as much motive as Len, and you saw how he reacted back there," the pink-haired woman protested.

"But Miku positively identified Len, not Rei," Meiko said. Luka snorted.

"We cannot be so narrow-minded simply because of one witness. She could have been mistaken."

"Those two boys seemed too different for her to mistake one for the other. Besides, Rei said that Len understood him." Luka looked at Meiko quizzically.

"So?" she asked.

"So maybe Len is just as bitter towards Mikuo, and he's just hiding it," Meiko explained. Luka hummed low in her throat as she tapped one finger against her lips.

She could never live with herself if she put a teenaged boy in prison for the rest of his life because of the word of just one witness. It simply wasn't enough proof, and they had no physical evidence tying him to the murder at all. All they really had was a boy with no alibi and a possible motive and a girl who claimed to have seen him.

...Oh, and a dead player, of course.

* * *

When they got back to the station, Luka decided to look up the school records of all the kids who were possibly involved with the case. Unfortunately, the only computer in the station had a messed up screen. Luka frowned when she realized that everything the computer showed was in black and white.

"This small village must have an even tinier budget," Meiko said when she noticed the screen. Luka clicked her tongue and said nothing. She tried to pull up Len's school record, only to find out that the computer was as slow as thick mud running down a wall. When the page finally loaded, Luka let out a sharp gasp.

"Meiko! Look at this!" She covered the rest of the screen with her hands so that all that could be seen was Len's school ID photo. Meiko leaned over to look at the screen and gave Luka a questioning look.

"It's a picture of Rei Kagene, so what?"

"No, it isn't!" Luka moved her hands so that Meiko could see the name on the screen. The brunette woman's eyes widened.

"That's _Len_?" Luka nodded.

"We didn't notice because their eyes and hair are so different, but when you take the color away they strongly resemble each other." Meiko shook her head tiredly.

"This village is a cop's worst nightmare," she muttered. As Luka stared at the screen, something suddenly clicked in her mind. She remembered earlier, when Miku had left the room and complained of it being too bright in the hallway. The pink-haired woman started searching around the room for a printer.

"Meiko, call Miku and ask her to come to the station immediately!" Normally, Meiko would have questioned what Luka was doing, but she could tell that the pink-haired woman was onto something. She pulled out her cellphone and quickly dialed the green-haired girl's number.

* * *

"What's going on? I've already told everything I know about all this, right?" Miku looked at Meiko with confusion in her wide eyes, but Meiko didn't have an answer for her. Luka suddenly walked into the room and slapped a photograph down onto the table. It was of Len, taken when he was first brought into the station.

"Miku, who is this?" Miku looked down at the photo and blinked.

"That's Len Kagamine."

"And who's this?" Luka put another photo in front of the younger girl. This one was of Rei Kagene; Luka had gotten it from his school ID photo. Miku looked at the photo, then glanced up at Luka and gave her a confused look.

"That's Len, too."

"Wrong." The green-haired girl tilted her head in confusion.

"Huh? No, I know..." Miku's voice trailed off, then her eyes suddenly widened. She covered her face with her hands and shook her head wildly. "No, no, no! What did I do?"

"You're completely colorblind, aren't you, Miku?" Luka asked gently. The green-haired girl nodded miserably. Her shoulders were shaking with barely contained sobs.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier that you're colorblind?" Meiko asked angrily. Miku jerked her hands away from her face and glared at the brunette woman.

"I forget sometimes, okay! This is the only way I know how to see, so I forget that it's not normal!"

"Miku, why are you crying?" Luka asked.

"I only wanted to help, but now I've made everything a mess!" Miku said.

"No, you haven't. Even if you have trouble telling Rei and Len apart, you've still given us only two suspects instead of nine hundred or more. But tell me, why were you so sure that it was Len when you first came in here? Don't you know both of them?" Miku nodded as she rubbed her eyes with her hand.

"I don't know either one of them too well, but I never had trouble telling them apart when we were at school. You can always tell how Len feels by just looking at his face, but Rei almost never shows any emotion. But on that night, whoever I saw coming out of Mikuo's house smiled at me. I just assumed..." Miku stopped, then she suddenly buried her face in her hands again. "Now he's going to hate me for this!" Luka let out a tired sigh and looked at Meiko.

"So, do you think we should bring him in for questioning?" she asked the brunette woman.

"Hell yeah," Meiko said as she pulled out her cellphone.

* * *

Rei Kagene did not seem to be very surprised when he was brought to the police station. He didn't seem to be feeling anything at all, really. The black-haired boy watched Luka with dead eyes as she crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall. She was letting Meiko do the questioning this time, in the hopes that maybe the brunette woman would provoke an emotional response from the boy if he claimed to be innocent. Meiko cleared her throat and began.

"So, what were you doing-"

"Stop." The brunette woman blinked and looked at Rei.

"What?" she snapped.

"This has to do with that Hatsune boy, doesn't it?" Rei was looking at Luka as he spoke, so she nodded in response. The black-haired boy nodded slowly and leaned back in his chair. "I'll tell you everything you want to know, but you have to promise to let me do something."

"What is it?" Luka asked.

Rei looked right at her as he answered, "After this, I want to speak to Kagamine. Deal?" Luka glanced at Meiko, then nodded.

"It's a deal," she said.

True to his word, Rei told them everything. About how he had broken into Mikuo's house and stabbed the older boy to death. About when he was leaving and saw Miku. About where he had left the knife. Luka couldn't help remembering what Meiko had said to Len earlier, about how it takes a lot of anger to stab someone twenty-one times. That anger was evident in the cold way that Rei spoke, in the lack of remorse in his voice and on his face. If Luka was a superstitious person, she would have firmly believed that Rei Kagene was a demon in human skin.

* * *

All Len could think about was the damn lightbulb that would not _stop buzzing_. He had looked all around the room for the light switch, but it must have been out in the hallway. He had climbed up on the table and tried to unscrew the bulb, but it was too hot and burnt his fingers. As the hours ticked by and he became even more irritable from lack of sleep, he finally decided to use a chair to break the bulb. He picked up one of the chairs and climbed up on the table. One good hit smashed the bulb and plunged him into silent darkness. He let out a sigh of relief, but it was short lived. The door was suddenly flung open, flooding the room with light from the hallway.

"Kagamine, we're going - what the _hell_ are you doing?" Meiko stood in the doorway, a look of confusion in her wide eyes. Len merely dropped the chair to the floor and jumped off the table.

"That bulb was making an annoying buzz," he said bluntly. Meiko looked from him to where the now shattered light bulb had been located and blinked.

"Uh, okay. Come with me." She led the blond out of the room and down the hall. She stopped in front of another door, opened it, and gestured for Len to enter. The tired blond walked into the room and blinked when he saw Rei.

"What's going on?" Len asked.

"This boy confessed to the murder," Meiko explained. "It looks like you're innocent after all!" She gave him a cheerful smack on the back which made him stagger forward. Len quickly regained his balance and gave Meiko an angry glare. Then he looked back at Rei and cocked his head to the side.

"You killed Mikuo?" Rei nodded.

"I know I've caused you a lot of trouble, but can I ask you a favor?" he asked. Len nodded quickly. "Keep an eye on Rui for me. Make sure nobody messes with her, okay?"

"Sure, I can do that." Rei smiled slightly, and Meiko felt her eyes widen in surprise at the sight.

"I would have confessed when I first heard they brought you in, but I didn't want to leave Rui alone." Rei trained his yellow eyes on the floor and hesitated for a moment. "Of course, because of that you had to leave your sister."

"Don't worry about it. She's probably still freaking out right now, but everything's going to be fine. And hey," Len set his hands on the table and leaned forward, and after a moment Rei looked up at him. "Good luck out there! I'll be rooting for you to win and come back to the village, okay?" Rei blinked in surprise, then he chuckled. Meiko felt her jaw drop open.

"Len, either you have no knowledge of the legal system, or you are the most naive person I have ever met."

"I think I'm just goofy from sleep deprivation," Len said brightly. Then his face suddenly turned serious again. "Try your hardest to win and come back. Rui still needs her brother." Rei nodded firmly.

"Meiko, I think it's time for Len to leave." Meiko turned to see Luka standing in the doorway, watching them. The brunette woman turned back and grabbed Len's arm.

"She's right, it's time for you to get out of here." When they had left the room and were walking to the front of the station, Luka let Meiko walk ahead so that she could talk to Len.

"You seemed rather friendly with him back there, even though you were almost framed for his crime," she said carefully. Len shrugged.

"I've always gotten along with Rei better than most people do. I guess it's because I understand." Luka blinked as she recalled Rei saying earlier that Len understood things that other people didn't. She wondered if the blond understood the black-haired boy because he felt the same way about some things. "It's funny, you know." Luka looked at Len and frowned.

"What's funny?" The tired blond smiled in a way that should have seemed innocent, but it made her skin crawl.

"What Rei did is considered a crime, but I can tell that he doesn't regret it at all. I wonder how I would've felt if I had actually done it instead of him?" Luka stopped dead in her tracks and watched Len keep walking on. Maybe Rei Kagene wasn't the only demon this village had.

"Hey, Len, do we need to get someone to drive you home?" Meiko asked as she glanced back at the blond.

"No, I can just call Rin and get her to come pick me up."

* * *

"They'll probably ask for you to testify in court if Rei claims to be innocent, but I don't see any reason for him to do that since he confessed," Luka explained to Miku as she led her out of the police station.

"So the Kagene boy really did it?" Miku asked as she twisted a strand of green hair around one finger.

"It appears that way." As the two females entered the lobby of the station, Miku suddenly stopped, her eyes wide. "Miku? What is it?" Luka looked in the direction the girl was staring. All she saw was Len slumped over in a chair, asleep.

"He must have fallen asleep while waiting for Rin to get here," Luka said. Miku looked up at her with wide eyes.

"Can I go apologize to him?" she asked. Luka shook her head firmly.

"It's probably better that you didn't. He's really worn out, and he might snap on you if you wake him up."

"Oh, okay." Miku watched the blond with a wishful look on her face as she tugged on some of her hair. "Miss Luka, what Rei did was a sin, right?" Luka blinked in confusion. She had never heard someone say sin as much as this girl did.

"Yes, what he did is considered a sin," she answered.

"But isn't lying a sin as well? That makes me a sinner, too, right?" Luka looked down at the green-haired girl standing beside her. If it was anyone else Luka would have just waved the topic away, but Miku seemed to be very concerned about sin and sinners.

"Miku, everyone messes up sometimes. You can't beat yourself up about this."

"But my mistake got Len in a lot of trouble!" Miku protested.

"But it's fine now. We have the real criminal, and Len's going home." Miku blinked, then she nodded slowly.

"Okay, Miss Luka. Thanks for clearing that up." Luka took a small step back. These teenagers really gave her the creeps.

"I think I need to go see if Meiko needs any help. I'll see you later, Miku."

"Okay! Bye, Miss Luka!" Once Luka had left, Miku glanced over at Len and bit her lip.

* * *

"Hey, Len! Wake up, it's time to go home now!" Rin blew out her cheeks and shook Len roughly. "Come on, wake up!"

"Mmph, stop that. I'm still tired," Len complained sleepily.

"Well then you can go home and sleep. Get up!" Rin eventually managed to push and annoy her brother out of the police station and into her car. As Len was buckling his seatbelt, he noticed something that was sticking out of his jacket pocket.

"Wha..." He pulled the object out. It was a small piece of paper that was folded several times, and he quickly unfolded and read it. A small smile spread across his lips. "What a weird girl," he muttered.

"Huh? Hey, whatcha got there?" Rin glanced over at her brother and saw that he had dozed off again. The piece of paper was held loosely in one hand resting in his lap. Rin pulled over to the side of the road and took the note from her brother. On it were words written in a curly script.

_I'm sorry for falsely accusing you. It seems that even when people try to do the right thing, they sometimes do more harm than good. People hurt each other in all sorts of ways, from breaking hearts to actual murder, and every single way is a sin. For the longest time I thought this village was a pure place, but I see now that I was wrong. Even the best people are not truly innocent, and this is a village of sinners. But there is no reason to be afraid of sin, not if everyone is guilty of something. Even if no one else will forgive Mikuo for his sin, I do. Even if what Rei did is an unforgivable crime, I forgive him. I hope that you can forgive me for what I did, and I am truly sorry for all the trouble I must have caused you. Sweet dreams, Len!_

* * *

AN - I realized recently that Rei is _supposed _to be a yandere character, and that I kinda left that out of his characterization last time I wrote about him (But can you really blame me? How on earth is a relationship between a tsundere and a yandere going to _work_?).

And then I heard Innocent by AVtechNO! and fell in love with that song. I found a video with the lyrics and was like _Hey, this sounds like it would make a good story. _Then I remembered yandere Rei and BOOM! instant fanfic.

So I guess you could say this is inspired by Innocent, even though I'm not really sure that Len didn't do the crime he was charged with in that song, as the lyrics are rather confusing.

Don't ask me what Miku meant by that "it's just part of living in a small village" comment, as I'm not quite sure what she meant myself. _Dammit Miku, stop taking over my keyboard!_

OH, and I heard that there's supposed to be a MikuLen festival next month in Japan! (Yes, I know that this is unrelated to the story, so hush). I'm pretty excited, even though I live nowhere near Japan and there is no way that I can attend. Ha ha /sob.

_Oh my god I am rambling I'm so sorry._

**Thank you for**** reading!**


End file.
